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Not So Merry England
Wartime life in England was, for us, a learning experience.
For one thing, we had to learn to speak "English."
This applied to both civilian and military usage, the latter
encompassing such acronyms as POL for petrol, oil and lubricants.
There were more such as, in a long distance telephone call, being
told by the operator that "You are through" when you
had not even started talking. But we learned.
Also, our rations were cut so that we were getting the same
number of calories per day as that allotted to the British civilian
population, to whom everything was rationed except bread.
The British had been at war longer than we, had been closer
to it and endured shortages of all kinds, but were game for the
big chance -- the coming invasion.
There were geographical and historical sites around. On a
hill east of Redlynch was a tall brick tower, known as Alfred's
Tower, commemorating a victory of Alfred the Great over the invaders.
We ascribed his winning to the "invaders" being tired
out on ascending the hill. Beyond that, to the east, was Stourton
and the home and garden of the Dowager Lady Hore, said to encompass
every tree and plant which would grow in the English climate.
Warminster, a British military site, bordered the downs of
Salisbury Plain, at Mere were strip lynches, terraced areas of
great antiquity. On one side of Redlynch House was the remains
of a Roman road, discernible in the grass, while to the other
side was the remains of a structure visited, it was said, by
one of the Stuart kings, these being the only two straight roads
in the area.
Redlynch itself belonged to the Dowager Lady Suffolk, whose
only son, a bomb disposal expert, had fatally failed. The Duchess
herself was an American. When asked of her location, Mr. Greenfield,
the resident butler, replied: In America - Phoenix, Florida.
Ah, well, we sometimes had difficulties with their geography
too.
Somewhere along the line we had attached to us the 486th Armored
Anti-Aircraft Battalion, at East Knoyle, near the origin of Wren,
the architect of St. Pauls' in London and other notable edifices.
It has been said that we Americans and the British are nations
divided by a common language, but we overcame that and they not
only became accustomed to but also used "Americanisms."
Many friends were made and many English families had Americans
to tea, while even more beer was bought and quaffed by both parties.
Location of Division Units:
Here is the location of our units, by county and town:
Somerset
Redlynch House, Bruton - Forward Echelon, Division Headquarters.
Wincanton - Division Rear.
Frome - 54th Armored Field Artillery Battalion.
Cucklington - 143rd Armored Signal Company.
Wiltshire
Warminster - Combat Command B, 33rd Armored Regiment, 391st
and 67th Armored Field Artillery Battalions.
Suttori Veny - 36th Armored Infantry Regiment.
Longbridge Deverill - 83rd Armored Reconnaissance Battalion.
Stockton House, near Codford - Combat Command A, 45th Armored
Medical Battalion, Trains Headquarters.
Codford - 32nd Armored Regiment.
Codford St. Mary - Maintenance and Supply Battalions.
Fonthill Bishop - 23rd Armored Engineer Battalion, there was
water nearby for bridging.
Mere - the 703rd Tank Destroyer Battalion.
East Knoyle - 486th AAA Battalion.
Training and more training plus physical exercise, including
long marches or hikes, were the order of the day. Range firing
took place at Bowls Barrow on the downs, at Kimmerage AT range,
St. Agnes and Penhale, the latter two and Bude being anti-aircraft
ranges. At Bude RAF pilots, on leave, flew tow targets off the
coast of Cornwall. Some leave! Tank crews fired at offshore targets
at Minehead, on the Bristol Channel, too.
At night, with blackout curtains up, we could see the searchlights
turn on to guide crippled bombers back from the continent, to
turn off immediately when the craft had passed.
In winter it was dark by 4 p.m. and in summer with double
daylight saving time, it was twilight at 11 p.m. We had no snow,
but it could get damp.
Visits by Eisenhower and Montgomery
Colonel John Smith, in his diary, tells of a hush-hush very
secret order coming down from higher headquarters, warning of
the approach of a very important person, about whom nothing was
to be told. The day came and with it Bernard Law Montgomery,
British commander. And all along his route schools had been turned
out and school-children and civilians lined his route! Some secret.
The John Smith "diary" mentioned above was actually
kept by T/4 Nathaniel Peavy, then of Rockaway Beach, New York,
but now of Carolina Shores, North Carolina.
Montgomery was but one of ranking officers to visit us during
our stay in England. Here is an account of advance preparations
made by Captain W.C. Deane, a SHAEF press officer, a graduate
of the University of Arkansas and later press officer at the
Nuremberg war trials.
"I had a swell venture this week. I was assigned, along
with a lieutenant, to go to an armored division and make advance
arrangements for a big press junket involving some 60 newspapermen.
General Eisenhower, General Montgomery and Air Marshall Tedder
were to inspect the division as part of Eisenhower's tour around
the United Kingdom to the various Allied outfits.
"Eisenhower's visit was something, for he covered most
of the activities of the division in one morning, and it took
a hell of a lot of riding in various vehicles, including half-tracks,
to keep up with him.
"During my stay with the division I got an opportunity
to ride in a Sherman tank -- Old Blood-and-Gas Dean, that's me!
The weather was cold, and at one point everyone got a big laugh
when General Eisenhower turned and clapped Montgomery over the
shoulder and shouted, 'Monty, you're an old softy! We'll put
you in a sedan.' Monty is definitely not a softy, though he is
a little fellow. He has the sharpest eyes I've seen in a long
time.
"I was in my first air raid," Deane continued, "in
London this week also, and it was all the 4th of July fireworks
I ever saw from the standpoint of noise and lights. The rocket
gun was the thing which caused the most racket and color -- its
shells taking off with a hell of a swoosh and backwash of flame
about 50 yards long, it seemed to me. The noise right away changes
into a son of express train going through a tin barn conglomeration
of sounds. The other anti-aircraft gangs were booming away and
there was little of the sky not being swept by searchlights.
"I forgot to mention that the commanding general of the
division I visited, a major general he was, had his headquarters
in the big house formerly occupied by a duchess or some such,
situated in a beautiful country estate (NOTE: This was Redlynch
House). He invited my fellow officers and me up to his quarters
for a drink, and while we were there showed us his toilet --
the main attraction being a commode built in the shape of a throne,
the gol' dangest contraption I ever laid eyes on.
"That was some trip," Dean concluded, "seeing
the allied supreme commander and some of his famous helpers sipping
a drink." He does not say that Monty had one.
Speech by Monty to 3rd Armored Troops
It was during this visit that Monty told us that he would
be commanding allied troops in the coming invasion. He did it
in his slightly theatrical manner, mounting a halftrack and standing
in the passenger seat, wearing his 8th Army tanker's beret and
a short warm overcoat. Facing the troops, he removed his coat,
showing a battle jacket, the left breast of which was covered
with ribbons. He seemed to thrust this side forward, the better
for us to see it.
During the course of his talk he said that, in attacking the
Germans, we should "hit them for six," a reference
to cricket which left many of the men - Monty had had them break
ranks and crowd around his halftrack - wondering what the hell
he was talking about.
Earlier, in a confidential talk with senior officers, Montgomery
had said that in preparation for the coming invasion attempts
had been made to have Turkey join the allies, but were unsuccessful,
but that it not now particularly mattered. He also said that
one hitch in preparations was getting enough landing craft of
various types and that some were being brought from the Mediterranean.
Monty was not the only ranking Britain to visit us. We even
had a visit from royalty, the Duke of Gloucester, no less, brother
to King George VI and, of course, the Duke of Windsor. Gloucester
was of medium build, with thinning hair, wearing breeches, displaying
thin legs. He had a high pitched, fruity voice and was accompanied
by one equerry, who maintained a discreet distance to the left
and slightly behind the duke.
Things went well until, during lunch, the duke was asked what
he would like to drink. "Beer," was the reply. There
was not, believe it or not, a drop of beer on the premises of
Redlynch, although there was a plentiful supply of wine and spirits
in the cellar, the key to the lock in sole possession of Mr.
Greenfield, the resident butler and representative of the owner,
the Dower Lady Suffolk.
Consternation! No beer, what to do? An MP on a motorcycle
was dispatched, post haste, to the Blue Ball in Bruton, the closest
pub which because of the British licensing laws, was closed at
this hour. The owner was "knocked up", beer procured,
the MP hastened back to Redlynch and, a bit late, beer was provided
for the duke.
On that comic note let us return to one more serious, the
fire power display given for all the allied nabobs. It was devastating
in the variety and intensity of it, field pieces, mortars, the
multiple guns - 50 caliber and 37 MM - of the halftrack mounted
AA unit, tracer bullets, and all.
Lessons on Being Captured by the Germans
Another serious effort, extended to but a few, both officers
and enlisted men, those most exposed to capture, was a talk by
a British officer of field rank and on the subject of capture
- how to avoid it, but if it happened, how to behave, how to
escape and make it back. The speaker had twice escaped after
capture in World War I - once from the Turks and the other from
the Germans. Give name, rank and serial number only, if captured
he admonished. Even captured, one was still a soldier. Deceit,
destruction and anything to hinder the enemy's war effort were
urged.
Also, escape kits were provided, including rubberized escape
maps which could be put in the linings of a field jacket, compasses
which doubled as buttons, collapsible containers for water -
Major Bellinger, General Rose's aide, escaped capture but in
hiding for three days suffered more from thirst than exposure
or hunger. There was more and all of it pertinent.
Another mention of the visit of the Duke of Gloucester would
not be amiss at this point, and it relates to road conditions.
When we arrived in England all road signs had been removed previously
in fear of a German invasion. Confusion fell to our lot, not
the enemy. Anyone in first encounter arriving at a five point
road intersection without a map but a particular destination
in mind would be fortunate to find a farmer in a nearby field
who would, if he approved of your appearance, give the desired
information.
By the time of the arrival of the duke we pretty well knew
our way about, but a new requirement emerged. Tanks coming out
of a muddy down or field leave din on the road, and English weather
being what it is, there was a lot of din. With Royalty visiting
this would never do! The solution: platoons of men armed with
brooms swept the entire road length. It cannot be said that this
was the most popular part of our "training" program,
but clean roads emerged. But for how long?
As D-Day approached we cleared out of our rooms in Red Lynch
for shelter in pup tents on the lawn, leaving behind our Penates
acquired during our stay, these being articles not suitable for
field use, in the case of Jim Alexander, Gil Palmer and the writer
an electric heater in workable condition, from all of which Mr.
Greenfield must have profited.
Soon we of division headquarters would join those who had
been quartered in such places at Sutton Veney, Codford St. Mary,
Fonthill Bishop, Warminster, Wincanton and Cucklington in sleeping
on the ground or in fox holes in Normandy, but it had been good
while it lasted.
The Division War Room
All the while as D-Day approached, field exercises continued,
CPX's on the downs, firing problems, bridges built, communication
improved, and in a hut behind and to one side of Redlynch a Division
war room was established, with windows curtained and access 24
hours a day, limited by a guard for those "bigoted,"
or cleared for dealing with information on where the invasion
would take place and with what. No one, of course, knew when,
but that the time was not far off.
As D-Day approached more were "bigoted" and admitted
to the war room. German units were pretty well known as to composition
and location, but as the day of reckoning approached there was
one German division in the south of France which was observed
to be approaching the Normandy beaches. There was some question
as to whether it would make the difference, but first it was
bombed, the trains bearing it placed out of commission, at which
point the troops were reduced to foot and horse power - all the
German infantry units were horsedrawn as to transport - and some
infantry even resorted to bicycles, but these were strafed unmercifully.
By the time the remnants reached Normandy they posed no mass
threat.
Next Chapter: Normandy Invasion & Northern France
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